Product Rave!

I've never really been a fan of processed teriyaki sauces. To me they're just way to salty and leave a lot to be desired in the flavor department. Awhile back someone was telling me they felt the same way, until they discovered Soy Vay's Island Teriyaki sauce. Not exactly your typical teriyaki sauce, it's pretty much exactly as described - your basic teriyaki sauce with a touch of Hawaii thrown in. And let me tell you it's delicous, I could eat it on everything! It's perfect as a marinade for just about any meat or vegetable and would also make a delicious dipping sauce. We finished off our bottle earlier this week and I'm going to need to add it to the grocery list, it's perfect for summer grilling!

For recipes using this delicous sauce check out the following (I've only done a version of one of them, but the rest sound delicious!) -

Soy Vay Recipes - recipes for all of their products

Magic Meatloaf - this sounds delicious!

Stir Fry Soba Noodles

Pad Thai

Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp Kebabs - I've done a version of this recipe before, very good!

Photo obtained from Soy Vay.

Super Bowl Eats.

The game was good, the commercials were ok and the food & friends were fabulous! Oh and The Office was freaking hysterical, seriously I almost choked I was laughing so hard when Dwight cut off the dummies face!

Just a few pictures of the food...

Beef sliders with cheese on King's Hawaiian buns aka crabby patties as the kids call them.

Beef chili with red kidney beans (recipe coming soon)

Awesome guacamole

Yeah, it's that awesome! When you're guacamole can make a kid this happy then you can call it awesome too!

Odwalla Apple Raspberry Energy Juice.

One of the side effects of a newer medicine I'm taking is that I can't drink carbonated beverages. Well I can, but they taste horrible - really horrible & nothing is worth having that awful taste in my mouth. Unfortunately that means I can't drink energy drinks, which was helpful for staying up late & getting up early - all things I'm doing more of to finish up my final few classes.

I've never tried Odwalla juices before, honestly I think they're too expensive. But I was at the grocery store the other day and it was on sale, sale being a relative term for juice, and I picked up a bottle. Now according to the bottle, this juice will provide me with serious focus, as well as enhanced concentration, attention & mental sharpness. I need all the serious focus I can get these days and was really hoping this juice help in that department. I'm so gullible, I know.

The color of the juice looked good, a nice mauve. I shook it up and opened the seal, it doesn't smell good - which should have been my first clue. I'm immediately hit with the overpowering taste of what I assume to be the green tea extract. Now assuming I could get past that taste, the drink would be pretty good. There is a half second where all you can taste is the fruit and it's really good. Then the green tea extract hits you again and it's all over. It isn't the most awful drink I've ever tasted, but it certainly isn't the best. I could only muster down a quarter of the juice, maybe it will be better tomorrow?
_______________________________________________________________

What I tried: Odwalla Apple Raspberry Mental Energy Juice Drink ($2.50, on sale).

The fine print: 56% juice, 14% organic ingredients & approximately35mg natural caffeine per serving, so 70mg for the entire bottle.

Nutritional Information: (servings per container 2) calories 170, fat 0, sodium 15mg, potassium 200 mg, total carbohydrate 40 mg, sugars 37 mg & protein 0. Green tea extract 850mg & ginseng 6mg.

Would I buy/try it again: No, not unless they got rid of that dirty grass taste. It also has way to much sugar in it, I think I'll stick to more natural fruit.

Cheaters Jambalaya.

Awhile back my Mom gave me a box of Zatarains Jambalaya with Cheese (avg. $2.60) and we just got around to trying it out on Friday. I added some smoked sausage and leftover canned diced tomatoes to the box mixture and hoped for the best! The dish was better than I anticipated it would be, though a little too cheesy for my personal tastes. The husband had no complaints. The box indicates it makes 6 cups of Jambalaya, I would say it could feed 4 people if you had a side dish too.

My thoughts:

Would I eat it again? Yes.
Was it easy to make? Yes.
Was it filling? Yes.
Was it good? Surprisingly yes.
Did it need some hot sauce to liven it up a bit? Yes.
Would I give up homemade jambalaya for the boxed version? No way.
Did the leftovers reheat well? Yes.

Football Feast.

The husbands love to smoke, the husbands love to smoke more when it's followed by OSU football and beer.

The well worth waiting for spread.

I don't think I'll make cornbread in any other shape than this from now on. Love it's perfect little size!

The husbands smoked six racks of ribs (beef baby back & pork spare ribs) with their top secret rub and mop sauce. I think this was the best rub & sauce combo to date!

These ribs were excellent! Probably the best they've ever made and certainly the best ribs I've EVER had!

Seriously, check out that smoke ring, that's what six hours in the smoker will give you! Fall off the bone tender.

The husband sampling some of his hard work.

Fresh collard greens, we all agreed these were the best we'd ever eaten. Recipe posted after the pictures.

The baked beans peaking into this picture were *gasp* canned beans, Bush's Grilling Beans - Southern Pit Style. I highly recommend them.

Miss J's fabulous & delicious Halloween cupcakes, complete with bat, pumpkin & ghost shaped sprinkles!

Country Collard Greens

3-31/2 lbs. collard greens or kale, tough stems removed and roughly chopped
1 smoked ham hock (about 1 pound)
4 medium onions, chopped
2 medium green or red bell peppers, chopped
2/3 c. cider vinegar, preferably unrefined
1 Tbs. honey
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. coarsely ground black pepper
2 tsp. Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, or more to taste
2 tsp. celery seeds

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot with 8 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for about 2 hours. With a slitted spoon, remove the ham hock. When the hock is cool enough to handle, pick the meat from it in small chunks or shreds and return it to the pot. Reheat the greens briefly, if necessary. Serve warm with some of the liquid, the pot likker. Leftovers keep for several days.

Yield: 8 servings
Recipe obtained from: Smoke & Spice: Cooking with Smoke, the real way to Barbecue by Cheryl & Bill Jamison (If you have a smoker, this cookbook is a must! None of their recipes have disappointed us & have all been awesome!)

What the husband did: We actually bought the greens (we used collards) already chopped, which saved some prep time. The husband also added some salt pork, which added more flavor during the cooking process.

*Oh and if you thought I'd slip up and post the rub and sauce recipes, you were mistaken!

Sweet & Sour Chicken.

I'm trying to go back and catch the recipes I didn't make from my cooking club, sweet & sour chicken was posted way back by Erin, check out her photography - she's very talented! Sweet & sour chicken is the one Asian inspired dish the husband says he doesn't like, so since he's drafting one of his many fantasy football teams tonight I decided to try this out for dinner. I halved the recipe, used ground ginger & didn't use water chestnuts. I also added a little bit of Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce. For my vegetables I used frozen snow peas, carrots & broccoli.

I liked this recipe way better than I thought I would! And the husband "I don't like sweet & sour chicken" even liked it too! I liked that it was healthy, fast and uses ingredients I generally have on hand. I thought the sweet chili sauce added a nice bit of heat, without overpowering the dish. I think halving the preserve & replacing the other half with the sweet chili sauce would be good for next time. Maybe a few dashes of red pepper flakes or Sriracha for even more heat.

Awhile back I bought some Minute Rice 'Ready to Serve Brown Rice' (170 calories, 4.5g. fat, 175 mg. sodium, 28g carb., 2g. fiber, 3g. protein). They come in two little containers and are already precooked, I just put them in the microwave for one minute. They were pretty good, I'll have to buy some more for lunches. I think they make a white and seasoned variety too.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

I took advantage of Trader Joe's wonderful selection of frozen appetizers and two tried & true recipes for my recent book club meeting. A friend, who makes delicious lettuce wraps, suggested I go with the knock-off PF Chang's recipe. She was right, they were delicious and the sauce was perfect. The rice recipe is courtesy of America's Test Kitchen and is seriously the most perfect rice I have ever made, not to mention it's easy to prepare and tastes great! I struggle with rice, it's a joke in our house, I almost always ruin real from scratch rice. Who am I kidding I have problems with Rice-a-Roni too. So this recipe is a life saver for me and since I've made it more than once I know it wasn't a fluke!

Appetizer's

Trader Joe's vegetable egg rolls with sweet & sour sauce.

Trader Joe's pork & chicken potstickers with potsticker dipping sauce. We also had steamed edamame sprinkled with Kosher salt.

Main Course

Chicken lettuce wraps, with Chinese sticky rice and steamed Asian style vegetables.

For dessert I had brownies, just used a box mix I had on hand though I did add some mini-marshmallows for fun! The brownies were topped with ice cream - either cookie dough or cookies and cream. I'm making myself hungry as I think about this.........delicious! Oh and fortune cookies too, because the meal wouldn't be complete without them!

Woofy Pop!

Today is Carson's one year anniversary of being adopted from the pound. Even the cats would agree that Carson is an important (and funny) member of our home. Carson spent his anniversary, as he does most days, sleeping in front of the fan and chasing his tale - though he did get a treat to celebrate his special day.

Someone had given us a bag of Woofy Pop peanut butter flavored popcorn and this seemed like a good treat for Carson. Woofy Pop is a microwave popcorn dog treat that comes in various flavors dogs enjoy (bacon, chicken, cheese, etc.). You pop it like regular popcorn and is essentially just regular microwave popcorn with added flavors. At first Carson wasn't sure what to do with it, I think he thought it was a trick and he'd get in trouble for eating it. But once he realized it was for him, he dug in. Though he did prefer to eat it on the floor and while laying down. The husband said I should have tossed it to him to catch, he loves doing that, but it was more fun to watch him, and the cats, investigate this new treat.

I've never seen Woofy Pop in the store, but then again I've never looked for it either. All the reviews I read were favorable towards the product, though I'd have to agree with those who suggested just using plain ol' regular popcorn for an occasional treat. Carson was happy with his treat and ate it all, so that's all that matters!

From now until July 13, The Franklin County Dog Shelter is having a sale on all dogs adopted who are six months or older. We adopted Carson during their sale last year, and it's a great deal. If you've been wanting a dog, this is a great opportunity to add to your family and save some cash at the same time!

Mantecadas

Spanish for small sponge cakes or muffins, I tried Tia Rosa's brand of pan dulce (sweet bread) while in Mexico. The muffin was nicely sweet, though had that processed taste and feel to it. I would eat one again if I was hungry, though I'd like to try a real one from a bakery next time. I think I'll see if I can find any available around here.

Alien Beer.

Getting stuff for dinner one night, we came across a smiling green alien staring out from the beer case. For sure the Roswell Alien logo is catchy & touristy, which is exactly why we picked up a six pack. Brewed by Sierra Blanca Brewing Company in New Mexico and described on their website as, "we have blended eight different styles of barley with a variety of domestic hops to create this medium bodied amber ale with a mild hop finish. The taste is out of this world!"

Personally, I think this is a beer you'd buy for the label/bottle only. Taste wise, I thought it was an ok beer. Something about the flavor wasn't doing it for me, and at times I thought it tasted pretty flat. I haven't seen this beer in our area, so I'm not sure if it's available for sale outside of the southwest.

Fit For A King.

Elvis's love for peanut butter & banana sandwiches seems to have inspired Reese's new Peanut Butter & Banana Cream candies. These limited edition cups are essentially a normal peanut butter cup, with a thin layer of banana creme. I think the picture, on the right, makes the banana layer look much creamier than it actually is.

The husband has a deep love for the original Reese's Cups and also enjoys peanut butter on a banana, so I thought I'd buy a package of these for him. I'd seen them around in the store, but really didn't think they sounded good. I like peanut butter on a banana just as much as the next person, but wasn't to sure about this "artificial" concept.

The final verdict - I liked them and the husband didn't. He said he doesn't like artificial banana flavoring. We ate ours frozen, which more than likely alters the intensity of the flavors slightly. I thought they had just the right amount of banana flavor, but like I said we froze ours. In the end I doubt I'll buy them again, but they were good to try out.

Meatless Monday Version 2.0

The husband and I have slowly been trying to eat healthier and workout more. Recently we decided to commit to at least one meal each week that was vegetarian based - hence Meatless Monday's were born. Now the husband did suggest another day, saying Monday's were hard enough on their own without taking away his beloved meat source for dinner. But with no other days of the week beginning with the letter 'M' and being in a themed state of mind, I declared Monday's to officially become Meatless Monday's in our house! Tonight was the second installment of our new tradition, and certainly much more successful than last Monday's utter & complete failure.

Tonight's grilled vegetable pizza's were easy to prepare and can be altered to suit whatever you have on hand and your own vegetable tastes. I followed the recipe, but next time think I'll just play around with it more. The pizza would make a good appetizer and could also easily become a quesadilla. The husband did say chicken would be good on it, which I agree with, just not on Monday's! I used La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low-Carb/Low Fat tortilla's (which may be the longest name for a tortilla ever) which I'd tried before and found to be fairly tasty for a low-carb/low-calorie food. Each tortilla has only 80 calories, 3 g. total fat, 14 g. fiber and 8 g. protein.



Vegetable Pizza
1 md. Zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1 sm. Yellow summer squash, quartered lengthwise
1 sm. Red sweet pepper, quartered lengthwise
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 tsp. Black pepper
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 lg. Ripe tomato, seeded & chopped
1/4 c. Mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 Tbs. Basil pesto
1 Tbs. Fresh basil, snipped
1 Tbs. Fresh Oregano, snipped
4 Flour tortillas (6-7 inch)
1 c. Mozzarella or Smoked Provolone cheese, shredded

1. Brush zucchini, squash, and sweet pepper with oil; sprinkle with pepper and salt. Grill vegetables until tender crisp, turning once halfway through grilling. Allow 8-10 minutes for sweet peppers and 5-6 minutes for zucchini and squash. Remove vegetables from grill.

2. Chop vegetables. In a medium bowl combine chopped vegetables, tomato, mayonnaise, pesto, basil and oregano. Place tortillas on grill rack directly over heat. Cover and grill from 1-2 minutes or until lightly toasted on one side. Turn tortillas over and spread the vegetable mixture over the toasted sides of tortillas. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cover and grill for 2-3 minutes more or until tortillas are lightly toasted, vegetables are just heated and cheese begins to melt. Carefully remove from grill.

Yield: 4 servings
Recipe obtained from: Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book

Nutrition facts per serving: 426 calories, 31 g. fat (7 g. saturated fat), 24 mg cholesterol, 737 mg. sodium, 27 g. carbohydrates, 3 g. fiber, 12 g. protein.

Marinated Cucumbers & Tomato
1 lg. Cucumber, sliced
1 md. Tomato, seeded & chopped
Sugar
Apple cider & red wine vinegar
Dill
Lovage
Salt & pepper

1. Combine vinegars, sugar, dill, lovage, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add cucumbers and tomatoes; toss to coat. Add more of anything to taste. Cover and chill for several hours or up to 5 days, stirring occasionally.

Yield: varies on produce used

What I did: Nothing says summer quite like garden fresh cucumbers and tomatoes and there are literally hundreds of ways you could make this dish. This dish requires no recipe, just use whatever you happen to have on hand and feel free to experiment. For those not familiar with the herb lovage, it has a celery like taste. I've never seen lovage in the grocery store, celery or celery seed would be good substitutes. If you ever see a lovage plant for sale, grab one and add it to your herb garden. Lovage is a perennial herb and can grow as tall as 6 feet; it's a unique addition to your garden.

Willpower...Its What's For Breakfast.

Yesterday's blah dinner left me very hungry this morning and it didn't help my cause that I woke up with a pounding headache. I wanted a bad for me breakfast this morning in the worst possible way - thankfully those type of places don't deliver. It took me awhile to talk myself into eating breakfast at home, the husband thinks I'm crazy when I tell him stuff like this -it's probably another one of those girl things. Our breakfast supplies are really low too; no yogurt, milk, bread and the only fresh fruit we have is cherries - leaving me few options and growing increasingly hungrier by the minute. I discovered some Morning Star Eggs Florentine Veggie Bites in the freezer and decided to give them a try. I figured they'd be tastier in the oven, as opposed to the microwave, so I brewed some coffee and waited for them to cook. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how good these things were! Very crisp on the outside and packed full of eggs, spinach and cheese on the inside - they even had the right amount of spices. Hooray for willpower!

One serving equals three bites, which I thought was a good portion size. They have 180 cal., 8 g. fat, 560 mg. sodium, 2 g. fiber, 3 g. sugar, 10 g. protein.